This invention relates to a printing control apparatus and method which make it possible to set the values of functions possessed by a printing device, wherein printing information for controlling the operation of the printing device is delivered to the printing device to control the same.
A printing control apparatus known in the art supplies printing information, which is necessary to perform printing using a desired paper and in accordance with a desired method, to a printing device in which it is possible to select plural types of printing paper and a variety of printing methods. With an apparatus of this kind, the user selects or enters various information necessary for printing and the items of information thus selected or entered are combined by the printing control apparatus to obtain the printing information that is required for optimum printing. This information is supplied to the printing device so that a printout may be obtained on the desired paper and in accordance with the desired method.
With the example of the prior art mentioned above, however, a considerable burden is placed upon the user since the user is required to select or enter the various information needed for printing. In addition, if the information is entered or selected erroneously, there is a good possibility that printing may not be performed in optimum fashion. Furthermore, since the printing control apparatus combines the entered information, creates printing information necessary to carry out printing and supplies this information to the printing device, it is difficult to deal with situations where the content of the entered information or the number of items in the information changes or situations where the content of the information or number of items in the information supplied to the printing device changes.
Further, a printing information supply apparatus known in the art supplies information necessary to perform printing to a printing device in which it is possible to select plural types of printing paper and a variety of printing methods. With a printing information supply apparatus of this kind, the user selects or enters various information necessary for printing and the items of information thus selected or entered are combined to obtain the information that is required for optimum printing. This information is supplied to the printing device.
As shown in FIGS. 64 and 65, the printing information supply apparatus displays various settable items such as media type, paper size, printing quality, paper supply method, type of dithering and color processing information, as well as values set for these. The user selects or enters the settings from the items displayed.
The fact that values are required to be selected or entered with regard to a large number of items places a large burden upon the user. Moreover, if the user selects a value erroneously, the incorrect setting is supplied to the printing device and, as a result, printing is not performed in optimum fashion. For example, to print on OHP (overhead projector) paper, xe2x80x9cOHP Paperxe2x80x9d is selected as the setting of the item xe2x80x9cMedia Type.xe2x80x9d If xe2x80x9cAutomatic Sheet Feederxe2x80x9d is selected as the setting of the item xe2x80x9cPaper Supply Method,xe2x80x9d however, a function that allows manual insertion of the medium will not operate.
Furthermore, since the printing information supply apparatus internally combines information, creates information necessary to carry out printing based upon the combination and supplies this information to the printing device, it is difficult to deal with situations where the content of the entered information or the number of items in the information changes or situations where the content of the information or number of items in the information supplied to the printing device changes.
Further, in many color inkjet printers, for example, a head for monochrome printing and a head for color printing are separate from each other and the heads must be interchanged in dependence upon the particular printing job. The conventional printing control apparatus is so adapted that color printing and monochrome printing can be set.
In order to verify that ink remains in a printer that is not equipped with a remaining ink sensor, often the quantity of ink used is counted in the printer and the amount of ink remaining is sensed based upon the quantity of ink used. In a printer of this kind, resetting of the amount of remaining ink must be performed by the operator in conformity with a cartridge installed to replace the old cartridge.
With this example of the prior art, however, a considerable load is placed upon the user as the user is required to select or enter a variety of information necessary for printing. If information is entered or selected incorrectly, it is likely that optimum printing will not be carried out. For example, to print on paper (referred to as paper A) which requires that paper supplied by manual insertion be selected as the paper supply method, xe2x80x9cpaper Axe2x80x9d is selected as the setting of the item xe2x80x9cmedia type.xe2x80x9d However, if xe2x80x9cautomatic sheet feederxe2x80x9d is selected as the setting of the item xe2x80x9cpaper supply method,xe2x80x9d paper cannot be fed by manual insertion and it is likely that a printing problem such as jamming will occur.
Further, since items of information are combined within the printing control apparatus, information necessary to perform printing is created based upon the combination and the created information is supplied to the printing device, it is difficult to deal with situations where the content of the entered information or the number of items in the information changes or situations where the content of the information or number of items in the information supplied to the printing device changes.
Further, in a case where the operator designates resetting of remaining amount of ink in accordance with cartridge replacement, the remaining amount of ink will not be the correct amount if the cartridge for which resetting has been designated and a cartridge actually installed as the replacement differ.
Further, even if the printer is one capable of being fitted with either a color head or a monochrome head, printing data is transmitted to the printing device in accordance with the setting of the printing control apparatus by the operator. If the head installed differs from that for which the setting has been made, correct printing will not be carried out.
A first object of the present invention is to provide a printing control apparatus for controlling a printing device by creating printing information that conforms to results of printing desired by a user, this being performed without placing a burden upon the user.
A second object of the present invention is to provide a printing information supply apparatus and method capable of alleviating the burden of entering settings.
A third object of the present invention is to provide a printing control apparatus in which the status of a printer is checked before printing, a warning display is presented if a setting made by the printing control apparatus differs from the status of the printer, and it is made possible to change the setting of the printer so as to make it the same as that set by the printing control apparatus, thereby enabling printing to be performed correctly.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide a printing control apparatus and method through which a cartridge installed before replacement and a cartridge installed after replacement are compared and resetting of the amount of remaining ink is performed in conformity with the cartridge after replacement, thereby making it possible to deal with the remaining amount of ink correctly.
According to the present invention, the foregoing objects are attained by providing a printing control apparatus in which printing control information to be set in a printing device is stored as settable value information obtained by combining settable items and values. Further, default information, in which appropriate values are set for items capable of being set by the operator and for items that cannot be set by the operator, is stored. In a case where a specific item takes on a specific value, an item and value decided in accordance with this value are stored as link information. When printing is performed, the settable value information and default information that has been stored in advance is read out and the read information is stored and displayed as settings for the printing device. When these values are changed by the operator, the link information is read out based upon the changed items and values. If there is another item for which a value should be changed, the value of this item is changed and displayed. If necessary, the operator can be made to verify these values before sending them to the printing device.
In a preferred embodiment, settable values are displayed at all times and settings are displayed in an emphasized manner.
Further, the type of ink cartridge used by the printing device is included as the settable information. If the ink cartridge actually installed and the ink cartridge to be installed differ, printing processing is terminated without printing being performed or printing is carried out by another printing device.
Further, in a printing control apparatus which manages the amount of remaining ink, a check is performed at the time of ink cartridge replacement to determine whether the cartridges before and after replacement are the same. If the cartridges are the same, the amount of remaining ink is reset and management of the amount of remaining ink is started anew. This makes is possible to manage the amount of remaining ink correctly.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same or similar parts throughout the figures thereof.